The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.
Landing that first job is a major concern for MBA students, and some programs are more likely to lead to success than others.
Among the 129 business schools that submitted job placement data to U.S. News in an annual survey, two of them — the University of South Florida and Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina — saw 100 percent of MBA graduates who sought jobs employed three months after completing their degrees in 2015.
[View job rates and starting salaries for MBA graduates based on U.S. News data.]
Both of these schools, however, were ranked by U.S. News in the bottom one-fourth of the 2017 Best Business Schools rankings.
In comparison, Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, the highest-ranked school among the 14 MBA programs with the highest employment rates, had a job placement rate of 97.1 percent.
None of the 14 schools with the highest job placement rates ranked above No. 21 in the graduate business school rankings. Overall, top-ranked schools had higher enrollments and, therefore, many more graduates looking for jobs after graduation. For instance, Harvard University, ranked No. 1, had 672 full-time grads seeking employment and a job placement rate of 91.1 percent by three months after graduation.
[Learn how to target MBA jobs that pay well and require fewer hours.]
Of all the schools that submitted these data, Florida International University came out on the bottom of the list with a job placement rate of 27.3 percent — significantly lower than both the overall average of 83.9 percent and the average for the top 14 of 97.1 percent.
Below is a list of the 14 full-time MBA programs where the highest percentages of job-seeking graduates were employed three months after graduating in 2015. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
| School (name) (state) | Full-time MBA graduates known to be seeking employment (2015) | Full-time MBA graduates employed three months after graduating (2015) | U.S. News business school rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal Carolina University (SC) | 38 | 100% | RNP* |
| University of South Florida | 24 | 100% | RNP |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–Newark and New Brunswick | 59 | 98.3% | 53 (tie) |
| University of Iowa (Tippie) | 48 | 97.9% | 45 (tie) |
| Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge (Ourso) | 42 | 97.6% | 62 |
| Temple University (Fox) (PA) | 39 | 97.4% | 41 (tie) |
| Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | 103 | 97.1% | 21 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) | 56 | 96.4% | 34 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) (NY) | 55 | 96.4% | 85 (tie) |
| Baylor University (Hankamer) (TX) | 23 | 95.7% | 57 (tie) |
| Howard University (DC) | 23 | 95.7% | 91 |
| Ohio State University (Fisher) | 94 | 95.7% | 27 (tie) |
| University of Florida (Hough) | 47 | 95.7% | 37 (tie) |
| University of Rochester (Simon) (NY) | 94 | 95.7% | 39 (tie) |
* RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its ranking category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don’t see your school in the top 14? Access the U.S. News Business School Compass to find employment data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed 470 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of graduate business programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Business Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges , Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs . The employment data above are correct as of April 5, 2016.
More from U.S. News
5 Questions to Ask During MBA Admissions Interviews
MBA Programs Where Most Students Get Jobs
Online MBA Students May Face Challenges With Degree Reputation
14 MBA Programs That Lead to Jobs originally appeared on usnews.com
